FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas is set to host No. 4 Texas A&M in Razorback Stadium on Saturday after years of this game being played in Arlington, Texas.
A&M (6-0, 3-0) and Arkansas (2-4, 0-2) seem to be heading in different directions. The Hogs started off winning its first two games, but have since lost four in a row. Three of the games Arkansas could have won, but turnovers did them in. Notre Dame blew them out and led to Sam Pittman's firing. A&M has beaten Notre Dame and everyone else who gets in its way. Bobby Petrino knows the Aggies have a very good team.
"We're excited to be at home and play Texas A&M in our stadium," Petrino said. "I think our players are going to come into the game with a lot of confidence and eagerness to get back on the field. Certainly feel like we'll have a great crowd, and it'll be exciting to see how we do. Offensively, we're going to have to score points. There's no question about that. And it's a great challenge for our defense."
The Aggies will be without running back Le'Veon Moss who is their leading rusher on the season. Moss has rushed 70 times for 389 yards and six touchdowns. Petrino was the offensive coordinator at A&M in 2023 and knows Moss well.
"Well I feel bad for him," Petrino said. "He was a young man that I was pretty close with and we had a great relationship. He’s battled that before, so I do feel really bad for him. He was playing really well. He’s a great player, an extreme talent. But they have a number of backs that carry the ball and run with it. They do pretty much the same thing with whoever’s back there running the football, so we’ve just got to defend what their tendencies are and how they like to run the ball."
Rueben Owens II is expected to get the majority of the carries with Moss out. He has 56 carries for 327 yards and a touchdown this season. He also has pulled in four passes for 55 yards. Texas A&M Coach Mike Elko is impressed with his backup running back.
"I think Rueben's trying to become a complete back, and I think one of the things that maybe gets lost in the Rueben story is he hasn't had a tremendous amount of snaps in his college career," Elko said. "He played at El Campo, where he dominated high school football, came in, played as a true freshman, but was in a crowded backfield. [He] was ready to have a big year last year, and then, obviously, the injury set back the season. This is really the first time you're seeing an upper class college version of Rueben Owens playing healthy, and so I think it's everything. I think it's his ability to run the ball, I think it's his ability to pick up things in pass protection. He’s obviously a really gifted player in the route game. I think he has just really been focused on becoming an elite back, or a complete back, and I think he's doing that at a really high level."
While the Aggies have won 12 of the last 13 games in this series most of the contests ended up very close losses for the Hogs.
"What I’ve told our guys is I don’t remember ever feeling like any of the games we were in control," Elko said. "I feel like every game I’ve ever played against Arkansas has come down to the final play. There’s been moments in the fourth quarter of every single game I’ve played against them where I felt we weren’t going to get the job done. So I think this has just been a really, really good back and forth affair that, for whatever reason, the ball has always seemed to bounce our way. Whether that’s a field goal off the upright or a sack/fumble. It certainly doesn’t feel like there’s very much separation between the two teams at all."
Petrino was undefeated against A&M when he was the head coach previously at Arkansas. Petrino talked about why he feels these games are so competitive.
"Well, I think one of the things was the fact that you played at a neutral site, and half the crowd was one school, half the crowd was the other," Petrino said. "We're hoping this gives us a home field advantage. Certainly have watched A&M play five of their six games at home, and certainly the crowd played into those so we need our guys to come out and be loud and give our defense an advantage."
Petrino went on to share his memories of when he coached against the Aggies.
"Well, I had a great time doing it when I was down there, and there's quite a few players back, and there's obviously a lot of new ones," Petrino said. "But my thoughts on Arkansas-A&M always puts you in Dallas, so it's nice to be able to play here in Arkansas. Never got to do that. We always played in Dallas. I think it'll be a good thing now to be able to play in Arkansas and at Texas A&M."
A&M wide receiver Mario Craver is among the best in the nation at his position. He has caught 32 passes for 634 yards and four touchdowns this season. Petrino is very aware of him and knows that is important for the defense.
"Well, we need to know where he is every play," Petrino said. "We need to do a good job of trying to disrupt his routes. He’s very quick and explosive and does a great job of catching the ball, run after the catch, so we’re going to have to make sure we’re in the vicinity to tackle and do a good job there, but they do have a lot of other weapons, so it isn’t like you can just focus on one guy."
A&M's defense has managed to get a lot of tackles for loss and sacks this season. They also have been very good at getting off the field on third down.
"Yeah, the challenge is they do it in a number of ways," Petrino said. "They can do it with the four-man rush. They do it with bringing a fifth guy. Sometimes they overload you. So it's an extensive package that they have. We're going to have to have great communication. Good thing is we are at home, so we should do a good job of that, but it's a challenge just preparing for everything that they do."
Since the Tennessee game last Saturday was the first time for three of Arkansas' four assistants on defense. So Elko was asked if he only looks at the Tennessee game when studying Arkansas' defense?
"Yeah, I think you’re trying to evaluate as much of a sample size as you possibly can," Elko said. "Obviously a new coordinator makes a huge difference in terms of what a team is going to do schematically, how they’re going to call plays, what they’re going to look like. There’s also a lot of film in terms of personnel and talent that you’re trying to evaluate from the earlier parts of the season. So you’re just trying to watch as big a sample size as you possibly can and try to get the best gauge on what exactly the defense is going to look like against us on Saturday."
Arkansas and Texas A&M will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday in Razorback Stadium with the game slated for ESPN.
